Apparatus for operating current collector shoes



Oct. 3, 1939. E, RU Q 2,175,042

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING CURRENT COLLECTOR SHOES Filed Jan. 4, 1939 Inventor: Ernst TTLibenbach,

by His Attorney.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR OPERATING CURRENT COLLECTOR SHOES Ernst Triibenbach, Berlin, Germany, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application January 4, 1939, Serial No. 249,293 In Germany March 23, 1938 6 Claims. (Cl. 191-49) The present invention relates to apparatus for operating current collector shoes of electric railway vehicles. Although the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, it is particularly adaptable for use with railway vehicles which are operated in third rail systems.

It is desirable that current collector shoes of electric railway vehicles be so arranged that they are capable of being moved to the operative position in engagement with the current carrying con ductor or to a disengaged or inoperative position. The operating mechanism is usually controlled by compressed air, but when the collector shoe has been withdrawn from the third rail for a length of :time the supply of compressed air may have become exhausted or diminished to such an extent that the shoe cannot be operated again by its associated mechanism into engagement with the third rail. For such situations, a hand pump must be provided for building up-suitable operating pressure or else it is necessary to provide an auxiliary source of electric power in the form of batteries for operating the compressor motor.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved arrangement for operating either manually or automatically a current collecting shoe of an electric railway vehicle.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved arrangement for operating a current collecting shoe in a railway vehicle by either manual or remote controlled means, the arrangement being so organized that the control may be transferred from manual to power operated means in a simple and efficient manner.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, a new and improved arrangement is provided whereby the current collecting shoe is operable either manually or by remote controlled means in such a manner that when operated manually against the third rail the shoe is latched in position, the latch mechanism being automatically released upon the energization of the remote control operating elements which thereafter control the positioning of the shoe.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims appended thereto taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a current collecting shoe operating mechanism embodying my invention and shown in the inoperative or disengaged position; Fig. 2 is a sketch illustrating the apparatus in the operative or engaged position of the shoe with respect to the third rail as actuated by the manual control; and Fig. 3 is a sketch illustrating the apparatus in the operative or engaged position under the control of the power operated means.

Referring to the drawing, a current collecting 5 shoe II) is mounted on the end of an arm I I which is pivotally secured as at l2 to the railway vehicle (not shown). The shoe is adapted to be moved into engagement with the current carrying conductor for a third rail l3 by the actuation of the 10 lever I4 which is connected thereto. The lever I4 may be pivoted at l2 coaxially with the arm H, the hub of the lever being provided with a socket l5 adapted cooperatively to receive an operating handle l6. To move the shoe from the disengaged 15 or inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 into engagement with the third rail, the handle, inserted in the socket i 5, is rotated in the clockwise direction, the motion of the lever I4 being transmitted to the arm I I through the interposed compression 20 spring H. The lever i4 and accordingly the shoe I 0 are maintained in the operative position shown in Fig. 2 by the latch l8 which engages the end of the lever when it is moved through the proper angle. It will be noted that in the operative posi- 5 tion the shoe is resiliently held against the third rail so that the contact is maintained during the travel of the vehicle which will inherently sway or shift somewhat relatively to the third rail. The lever I4 is biased to the. inoperative position 30 or in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in the drawing by the retracting spring l9 having one end secured to the lever l4 and the other end to the stationary part 20. When the latch is tripped, the lever I4 is drawn to the inoperative 35 position by the spring l9 carrying with it the arm I I and the shoe by virtue of the headed bolt 2| which is fixed on the lever l4 and extends through an opening in the arm H.

Once the shoe is moved into engagement with 40 the third rail by the hand operated lever and power is available within the vehicle. control of the shoe may be transferred to the motor operating mechanism. Although any suitable type of remote controlled motor may be embodied for 45 operating the shoe, the motor shown in this instance is a compressed air driven servo-motor 22, the piston of which is connected by the stem 23 to the lever l4. The end of the stem 23 is provided with an elongated slot 24 in which is ar- 50 ranged a roller 25 fixed on the lever H. The control of the shoe is transferred from the manually actuated condition to the motor by means arranged for tripping the latch when the motor is energized by the vehicle operated. As indicated,

a stop 26 provided on the stem 23 engages the latch trip lever 2'! to rotate it in the counterclockwise direction against the force of the biasing spring 28 as the piston of the motor is moved to its extreme position. As the latch is tripped, the end of the lever M is pulled back somewhat free of the latch before the roller 25 is stopped by the end of the elongated slot 24.

The lever 14 is then retained in the operative position solely by virtue of the fluid pressure acting upon the piston in the motor 22. The latch l8 then is provided merely for holding the shoe in the operative position until the remote controlled motor 22 is energized. When that is done, the latch is automatically tripped and the control of the shoe is thereafter with the motor.

Having described the principle of operation of my invention together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. The combination of a contact adapted to be moved into engagement with a conductor, a pivoted arm carrying said contact, an operating lever, resilient means arranged between said lever and said arm, manually operable means for actuating said lever to an operative position effecting resilient engagement of said contact with the conductor, spring means operably associated with said. operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a motor for actuating said operating lever to the operative position, and means actuable upon the energization of said motor for tripping said latch.

2. The combination of a current collector shoe adapted to be operated into contact position with a current conductor, a pivoted arm for supporting said shoe, a lever pivoted coaxially with said arm, means for manually operating said lever, a resilient connection between said lever and said arm by means of which said shoe is resiliently held in engagement with said conductor when said lever is actuated to the operative position, a latch for retaining said lever in the manually actuated operative position, a remote controlled motor for operating said lever, and means operab le by said motor for tripping said latch.

3. The combination of a current collector shoe, a pivoted arm for carrying said. shoe into engagement with a third rail, an operating lever, resilient means arranged between said lever and said arm whereby said shoe is resiliently held in engagement with said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the operative position, positively acting means for causing the disengagement of said shoe from said third rail upon the actuation of said operating lever to the inoperative position, manually operable means for actuating said operating lever, spring means connected to said operating lever biasing it to the inoperative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the manually actuated operative position, a motor for actuating said operating lever, and means operable by said motor for tripping said latch.

4. The combination comprising a current collector shoe, an operating lever, a spring arranged between said lever and said shoe whereby said shoe is resiliently held in an operative position upon the actuation of said lever, spring means biasing said lever to the inoperative position, positively acting means between said lever and said shoe for withdrawing said shoe to the inoperative position upon the release of said lever,

means for manually actuating said lever to the operative position, a latch for retaining said lever in the manually actuated operative position, a motor for operating said lever, and means operable by said motor for tripping said latch, the connection between said motor and said lever being such that said lever is not latched during the time that it is under the control of said motor.

5. The combination, a contact adapted to be actuated into engagement with a current conductor, means for manually actuating said contact, a latch for retaining said contact in the operative position, means for remotely controlling the position of said contact, and means responsive to the energization of said remote controlled means for tripping said latch and transferring the control of said contact to said remote controlled means.

6. Apparatus for operating a contactor for collecting current from a third rail, said apparatus comprising a pivoted arm carrying said contactor, an operating lever resiliently connected to said arm, means for manually operating said operating lever to actuate said contactor to the operative position, a latch for retaining said operating lever in the operative position, a remote controlled motor loosely connected to said operating lever, means responsive to the energization of said remote controlled motor for effecting the disengagement of said latch whereby the control of said contactor is transferred from said manual operator to said remote controlled motor.

ERNST TRUBENBACH. 

